Steam-roller.



a. E. TOWNSEND; STEAM ROLLER.

(No mm.)

(Application flied-May e, 1902 Patented Dec. 2, I902.

3 Sh'ee.ts-Sheet l.

ATTORNEY? V m: "cams Pin-ans cu, Puoroumm WASHlNC-TON. n. c,

No. 714,762. Patented Dec.- 2, I902.

G. E. TOWNSEND.

STEAM ROLLER.

klpplieation filed may 9, 1902.) (N0 Model.) 3 Sh'aeia-Sbo oi 2,

INVENTO'R ATTORNEY.

m: "firms PETEM 00.. PnaTo-umm WASHINGTDIL No. 7|4,7s2. Patepted Dec. 2,I902; e. E. TOWNSEND. "STEAM ROLLERJ m ucaflmi filed m a, 1902. noModel.) 3Sheet s 8hae a,

A TTORNE K WITNESSES." VENTOR.

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GEORGE E. TOWNSEND,

STEAM-ROLLER.

' FFIC OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 714,762, dated December2, 1902. Application filed May 8, 1902. Serial No. 106,452- (No model.)

To all whom itmay concern.-

Be it known that LGEORGE TOWNSEND, a citizen of theUnitedStates,residing at Springfield, in the county of Clark and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSteam-Rollers, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to steam-rollers, and more particularly to thatclass used in smoothing asphaltpavements and for rolling gravel walks,lawns, &c. I

The invention has for its objects, among other things, first, to providean arrangement of the parts whereby the weight of the boiler and enginemay be more evenly distributed upon theframewlorkand whereby the vibra-'tory strains of the engine due to the reciprocation of=its partswillhaveas little effect as a; present in the usual construction and arises 3.

from the use of bevel-gearing may be avoided and whereby the employmentof an englue-shaft located at the extreme side of the frame outside ofthe lateral edge of thedriving-roller may be dispensed with, while atthe same time the gear upon'the driving-roller may be brought to such adistance above the surface of the ground as to obviate the danger ofclogging or breakage of said gear.

To these and other ends my invention consists in certain novel featureswhich I will now proceed to describe and will then particularly pointout is the claims. 1

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a planlview of a rollerembodying my invention in one form. .Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thesame, andFig. 3 isan enlarged detail sectional View taken on the line 00a: of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the said drawings, 1 indicates the frame as a whole, comprising aforward portion 2, extending upward and outward to receive the front orsteering roller 3, which is carried in a yoke 4, connected with theframe by a universal joint 5 in the usual manner. The frame alsocomprises a horizontal portion 6, upon which the boilerand engine aremounted and which is supported bythe rear or driving roller '7, mountedin said horizontal portion of the frame. This horizontal portion may beconstructedin any suitable manner; but I prefer to employ lateralchannel-bars 8, between which the driving-roller 7 is .located, its axle9 being supportedin brackets 10, carried by the channel-bars. In frontof 3 the driving-roller 7 the channel-bars are connected by a transverseplatform 11, on which the boiler 12 and engine 13 are supported.

In rollers of this class as usually constructed the boiler is centralwith respect to the frame and the engine is of a vertical type, beinglocated at one side of the boiler, with its cylinders uppermost and itscrank-shaft extending longitudinally at one side of the frame. Itresults from this construction, first, that there is an excess of weighton the frame at that side thereof Where the engine is located, and,second, that the thrust of the reciprocating parts of the engine isimparted to the frame in a. direction transverse to its plane, so as tohave a maximum vibratory effect upon the frame. To overcome thesedifficulties, I locate the boiler with its center at one side of thecentral line of the frame, as shown in Fig. 1, the engine being locatedon the other side of the central line of the frame in sucha positionthat the combined Weight of the boiler and engine is distributed in asubstantially equal manner on each. side of the frame. It will also beobserved that the engine is horizontal, so that its thrust is in thedirection of the plane of the body of the frame instead of transversethereto, thereby minimizing the vibratory effect upon the frame. Inpractice I prefer the construction shown, in which the cylinders 14 ofthe engine are longitudinally arranged, the engineshaft 15 beingtransverse with respect to the frame.

In rollers of this class asordinarily constructed the driving-gearingcomprises a bevel-gear on one end of the driving-roller,

immediately adjacent to the periphery thereof, working in conjunctionwith an engineshaft extending longitudinally of the frame and providedwith a bevel pinion which meshes with said gear, This requires thelocation of the engine-shaft outside of or beyond the end of the rollerand a consequent location of said shaft and the engine which drives itat the extreme side of the supporting-frame, this being one of the mainreasons for the present objectionable lateral location of the engine.Moreover, a serious objection to the bevel-gearing thus employed indriving the roller is the fact that owing to the angle of inclination ofthe gear-faces a wedging action occurs which tends to produce lateralstrains on the roller and shaft sometimes sufficient to spring themapart, so as to cause slipping of a cog, or even breakage of the teeth,this danger being more particularly present in quick reversal of theengine. To do away with these disadvantages, I dispense withbevel-gearing and employ the construction shown, in which theengine-shaft is provided at either end with a pinion 16, which mesheswith a gear 17 on a counter-shaft 18, said counter-shaft being providedwith a pinion 19, which meshes with a gear 20 on the driving-roller 7.In order to provide a firm bearing for the counter-shaft 18, which issubjected to great strain when in use, I mount said counter-shaft in abracket 21, secured to the channel-bar 8, which forms a side member ofthe frame, and said bracket isprovided on opposite sides of the pinion19 with bearings 22 for the counter-shaft 18. In this way thecounter-shaft is firmly supported on each side of the pinion, whichmeshes with the main gear of the driving-roller, and is thus enabled towithstand the strains to which it is subjected at this point. It will beobserved that by reason of this construction the laterally-arrangedlongitudinally-extending engine-shaft is dispensed with, as well as theobjectionable bevel-gearing. It will also be observed that the necessityof locating the gear on the driving-roller at the periphery thereof isdone away with, the gear 20 being of such a diameter that its lower edgeis a considerable distance above the surface of the ground, and, infact, said lower edge does not extend below the lower edge of theadjacent side member or channel-bar 8 of the horizontal portion 6 of theframe, so that it is protected from contact with any obstacles lying onthe surface of the ground. It will of course be understood that theobjectionable 'features attendant upon the use of bevelgearingto wit,the wedging action and the lateral strains-are dispensed with.

In apparatus of this type as usually constructed the driving-rollerconsists of a cylindrical steel tread or peripheral portion bent toshape and having separate heads secured to its ends by riveting, theseheads being secured to an axle which rotates in supporting-bearings inthe frame. As an improvement on this construction I propose toing-rollers.

construct the driving-roller of a cylindrical body portion 23, cast in asingle piece, a cylindrical hub portion 24, sleeve-like in form and alsocast in a single piece, and connecting-spokes 25, having their endsunited with the body portion andhub in the process of casting, the bodyportion being provided with annular ribs or collars 26 and the hub beingprovided with similar ribs or collars 27 to receive the ends of saidspokes. struction of this roller the body is cast first, being at thesame time cast around the outer ends of the spokes, and the hub portionis cast last, being at the same time cast around the inner ends of thespokes, and in this way the cooling of the metal causes noinjuriousstrains on the spokes. This produces a less expensive and strongerroller, and since the tread-surface of the roller is of cast metal itafiords a better adhesive surface, does not become worn and polished, asdoes the steel tread of the ordinary roller, and takes a better gripupon stones or other objects lying in the path of the machine. Insteadof employing a rotating axle I am enabled to employ a nonrotating axlehaving its ends fixed or stationary in the brackets 10, the sleeve-likehub 24 forming an extended bearing on said axle and turning on the same.

In a machine of this type as ordinarily constructed having invertedvertical engines the machine as a whole is rendered top-heavy, owing tothe fact that the heaviest parts of the engineto wit, the cylinders andtheir associated partsare at or near the top of the machine and highabove the level of the supporting-frame and of the axles of the support-By the construction which I have devised, in which the engine ishorizontal, it

In the con ICC rests directly upon the supporting-frame at a low level,which brings it below the horizontal plane of the supporting-axle of thedriving-roller, thereby correspondingly lowering the center of gravityand greatly increasing the stability of the machine.

I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise detailsof construction hereinbefore described, and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, as these details may obviously be modified without departingfrom the principle of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, whatl claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A steam road-roller of the character described, comprising a lowhorizontal frame, a driving-roller mounted within said frame, said framebeing suspended from and lying below the driving-wheel axle, a boilerand engine mounted side by side on said frame in front of thedriving-roller, the engine on one side of the central longitudinal lineof the frame, and the boiler mainly on the other side of said line, sothat they counterbalance each other, the engine being horizontal andbelow the level of the driving-roller axle and reciprocating in thedirection of the length of the frame, and gearing connecting theengine-shaf t and driving-roller, substantially as described.

2. In a steam road-roller of the character described, the combination,of a low horizontal frame, a fixed elevated axle from which said frameis suspended, a roller mounted on said axle within said frame and havingaspurprovided .with a pinion, and acounter-shaft gear secured theretoWithin the plane of one of the outer ends thereof, a boiler and enginelocated on said frame, the engine-shaft being mounted on the side memberof the frame parallel withthe axle, extending withinthe plane of thegeared end of the roller and provided with a spur-pinion to mesh withthe spur-gear of the roller, the other end of the countershaft beingprovided with a gear to mesh with the engine-shaft pinion, substantiallyas described.

' 3. A steam road-roller of the character de scribed, comprising a lowhorizontal frame, a fixed elevated axle from which said frame issuspended, a driving-roller mounted on said axle Within said roller andhaving aspur-gear I located Within the plane of one of the outer endsthereof, a boiler and engine mounted sideby side on said frame in frontof the driving-roller, the engine on one side of the longitudinalcentral line of the frame, and the boiler mainly on the other side ofsaid line, so that they counterbalance each other, theengine beinghorizontal, below the level of the driving-roller axle, andreciprocating in the direction of the length of the frame,

the engine-shaft being provided with a spurpinion, and a counter-shaftmounted on the side member of i the frame parallel with the axle,extending within the plane of the geared end thereof and provided with aspur-pinion to mesh with the spur-gear of the roller, the other end ofthe counter-shaft being provided with a spur-gear to mesh with theenginehorizontal and provided with an engine-shaft having a terminalpinion at one side of the frame, and a counter-shaft mountedon theadjacent side member of the frame and provided at one end with a gearmeshing with the engine-shaft pinion and at the other end with a pinionmeshing with the driving-roller gear, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE E, TOWNSEND.

Witnesses:

E. O. HAGAN, IRVINE MILLER.

